The Moon and the Cold Wind
by kai7
Summary: WARNING: MUST BE 14 OR OR OLDER GRAPHIC FIC! It is about a samurai named Akishi and he tells how his life in Kyoto is runied because of the Manslayer Read 'n' Rate PLZ!


This is my very first FF so please read, enjoy (hopefully)   
Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and not me  
I simply just made it better HAHAHA yeah right! ^_^  
Kai presents: The Moon and the Cold Wind  
  
It was late at night, the sun had already hid it self behind the void of the heavens. The only source of light was my little garden lantern, along with the perpetual whitish-gray moonlight that cast shadows over the bamboo in the forest behind my garden. I was sitting peacefully sipping my warm herbal tea. Although the tea was not the greatest that I have tasted. It was lacking the essential green vitamins and it was bitter. Hell, who was I to make complaints, almost all of my money is gone I can not afford the good tea anymore. Never mind tea I can live with out it, I need food more than anything, some food and some business.   
I run a small Japanese vegetable stand; yes it is small but back when Kyoto was flourished with residents and the tourists (that mainly came from Tokyo). Anyways my little vegetable stand used to haul in the money like there would never be a time when I would be this poor. I had some of the best homegrown eggplant in Japan, I still grow my vegetables but there are no more customers, no sir, not after the manslayer cry. Yes that is the problem that has been going on for quite some time now. His name is Battousai. Battousai the Manslayer, it is said that he a lost soul that claims to be a wanderer. In fact in the uppermost parts of Japan he alone striped a town of its population, fourteen thousand people killed in one night. No one knows where he came from but he is a distinctive character, his hair is the color that he loves most blood red always up high in a tail, his eyes are empty and dark, along with the reddish pink kimono top and white hakama pants. Tied into the waist of the prize possession of his attire his katana, it is a thirty inch blade covered in a pale black scabbard. Also very nicely hand woven thread around the handle. The one thing that everyone knows is that he has a cross shaped scar on his left cheek, it is almost in the shape of an X.   
If his appearance is not enough to send a shiver up your spine then his amazing talents with his sword will defiantly send you to your grave. He claims to have learned and mastered a certain sword style called Kamiya Katsuhin. It is a technique that can teach an average swords man to be a master with unmatchable speed when evading or implying an attack, or even just drawing the sword from the scabbard. Many have faced him and lost. The stakes are very high now, for anyone how can slay the manslayer and have proof with his head and sword will receive a reward of ¥50,000. Government officials have some reason to understand that he is on a rampant extermination. This was figured out by the pattern that he travels in.   
He started his slaughter in upper Japan and has been working his way down soon he will have passed through out all of Japan not leaving a single man woman or child. Luckily there has been no serious sighting of Battousai in Kyoto, but there have been some pranks. Just two nights ago some teenage punks thought that it would be funny to impersonate the manslayer by dressing alike and carrying a sword. Since the Meiji era (1868) carrying a sword was an act of crime, the person would be prosecuted or maybe even killed. That same law is still in effect and it has been quite a while since then the year is now 1879.   
Well that sure was a depressing trip down memory lane I thought to my self as I sipped the last of the once warm tea. It had gotten colder, much colder for an August night. I thought to myself that I should probably get some sleep and stop worrying about Battousai. I took one last glimpse at the full spherical shape of the moon's reflection in my koi pond. "Why can't all of life be that beautiful?" I said aloud.   
As I stood then tuned around and started to walk towards the back door of my house. I was sliding it open then I saw a faint but noticeable gleam of metallic blue and silver in the reflection in the glass on my back door. It stopped. There was a pause then I heard a low tone cry for help. I the quickly reacted the sliding door and ran into my room then I kneeled down and pick up of the floor my old katana box. I picked it up and blew off the dust that it had been collecting for about 20 years; I grabbed it out of the box and put it in my belt, then ran back out side to my garden. I was facing the bamboo forest that was where I saw the conflict between two swordsmen. This time it was clearer and I could hear the loud "ching" of sword blades batting against each other. Wasting no time I leapt over my fence that separated my garden from the forest. Then I began to try and navigate the labyrinth of bamboo. It was quite hard to do, there was little to no light and the only way that I could find the duel was by the noise that it produced. The clang of steel grew even louder I was almost there then I heard another desperate cry for mercy but it was hard to make out the sounds exactly because the voice was muffled by the bubbling of blood in the victims mouth.   
With no further sounds I had to find the scene by pure luck. So I just ran straight ahead in a vain attempt to find the wounded or potentially dead swordsmen. As I looked forward there was a clear in the bamboo chutes, the moon baited the area in its grey empty color. I made it to the clearing where the duel was going on, I was quite far away from my home. As I tried to catch my breath from running I examined the clear area, it was almost a perfect circle about 40 meters in diameter where there was a light mulch of grass no bamboo at all. Then I looked the ground there were two blood drenched bodies lifelessly on the ground. I ran towards one of them and knelt down to check for a pulse… noting. He was already dead. I stood up and walked over to the next body. I walked because I had less hope of the other carcass having life left in it. To make sure I repeated the same procedure.   
I touched my index and middle finger to the under part of the person's jaw, his neck was pale and cold like the Autumn breeze it was a quite unpleasant feeling. Then astonishingly I felt a pulse it was a very slow beat, but the man's heart was beating. I turned his face off of the dirty ground and laid him gently onto my knees and bluntly said   
  
"Sir… Hello? … Can you hear me? … What happened here?" The man's eyes opened enough so he could see me. I said to him, "Sir, please do not move or speak too much." He nodded at me.   
I scanned his red tainted cloths, there was a chest puncture from the right side where his kidneys are located, the gash continued along and up his chest. It was a good 12 to 13 inch cut, and it was painfully deep and the blood loose must have been extensive. If I moved him too much, his bowels would spill out. Then I repeated what I said before.   
"Do not move sir, but please tell me who did this to you!"   
Again the man nodded and said, "B-Bat … ttou … s-sai, he … i-is … here." With that the man had passed on.   
I closed my eyes and touched my forehead to his and prayed that he did not die in vain. I stood up and then unshielded my katana. I held it in both hands ready to avenge the man's life.   
I yelled out "Battosai!" with much anger and hate in the tone of voice.   
Then there was a cold current of air. A rustling noise in the grass was behind me, I quickly turned around to see who was there and to none of my surprise there he was the legendary manslayer, Battosai. His appearance was comparable to what I was told.   
I said, "Why did you kill those innocent men?!"   
There was not much of an answer just "Humph…"   
I said, "Fine then if you have an answer, answer with your sword!"   
As I charged towards him with pretty impressive speed, I screamed in hatred "IAHYEAHHHH!" Then I took a swing with my sword, noting! It was like slicing through air. He had evaded the swing with no effort at all.   
"You can do better than that old man!" Battousai said with a maniacal tone.   
"Shut up! Now you die!" I said.   
"As you wish but it will just end in your demise. Wait before you attack I have a question, what is your name old man?"   
"My name is Akishi Ootani what is it to you!?" I said angrily.   
"Oh I just wanted to know the name of the last man I slaughter" Battousai said calmly.   
I replied "What the hell do you mean by that you arrogant little bastard!"   
"I mean exactly what I said. After I kill you Akishi, I will no longer be a manslayer. I have reached my destination. Kyoto, ah my beloved birthplace." exclaimed Battousai.   
"If you were just travailing here then why did you kill hundreds of thousands of people!?" I said will much hate and confusion.   
"Going that far distance is very boring I needed some excitement along the way" said Battousai.   
"That's it! For your sheer amusement, you slew people whenever you felt like it!" I barked at him with many emotions.   
"Yes and now I will kill you! IYEAHH!" screamed Battousai."Never!" I screamed and a swing of the sword and the same sensation again like cutting through air, but this time I felt enormous serge of pain.   
I looked at him in front of me, and he was just standing there with his sword held in one hand. I examined the blade, it had blood on it. Just then I wanted to charge at him but my legs did not want to respond then the horrible pain only going to get extremely worse! I could barely move. I tried my hardest to tilt my head down at my waist, and I did. What I saw next was truly a nightmare, right above my waist line there was a cut all the way through my torso. I was no longer connected to my legs. I could see my liver and intestines spewing out, it was truly repulsive. Then by that time the blood loss was too great. I knew it was all over.   
Then Battousai put his sword back into his scabbard and started to walk toward me.   
He stopped and whispered into me ear "I am sorry my friend, my name is Kenshin. Himura Kenshin."   
And with that we walked passed me then sprinted away like a flash of lightning. I thought to my self his technique must be amazing he cut me through and I am still alive.   
"Kenshin, Damn you Kenshin!" I screamed.   
Now my pain was numbness and I did not know how to feel. So I looked at the moon one last time. As a cold wind blew past me, it was my last moment. The wind blew my torso off of my legs and then I was on the ground in two pieces. Organs spilt everywhere. Blood… Blood was what I tasted. 


End file.
